Garment fastener



Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

' t :MARY'VvQBRuNxgoF KANSAS CITY-Kansas I- eitEN'r f,

Be it known that I, 'MARYV- BRUN/ii, a citizen lof vthe Unitedl States,resi ding"at Kansas' City,- in thelcunty of"Wyandotte and- VState of `Kansas,1have invented certain new 'and' useful 'Improvements in Garment Fasteners, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to a new article of manufacture and the method of forming the same, and one important feature resides in the provision of flexible buttons which may be laundered with the garments to which they are sewed, without danger of their being pulled olf or broken, as often/happens with buttons made of pearl, bone, or other hard material.

The present buttons may be made ofthe same goods as the garment, or of any other desired goods, and they are preferably' sewed to a strip of fabric which in turn, is sewed to the garment, and as they have no holes through which the needle must be directed as with hard buttons the operation of sewing them to said strip, or directly to the garment, may be speedily accomplished.

A further object of the invention is to provide a strip with button holes of peculiar form through which lthe flexible buttons may be readily passed, and the margins of which can be sewed more rapidly than the margins of the usual form of button holes.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a broken elevation of a garment provided with the'buttons and button holes.

Fig. 2l is a broken sectional view showing one style of button hole.

Fig. 3 is a broken elevation of a strip of fabric provided with the flexible buttons.

Fig. 4 shows a strip of fabric with two of its margins sewed together to form a tube constituting the first step in one method of forming the flexible button. l

Fig. 5 is a section showing the final step of forming a square buttonfromthe tube disclosed by Fig. 4. Y

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing how the square button disclosed by Fig. 5 may be 4formed into an eight-sided button, before the several folds are sewed together.

Fig. 7 is a detail of the completed eightsided button.

Fig. 8 is a detail of a circular button.l

j, 9i afbrokenfelevation"ofafgarment providedfwith 'the'ucircullar buttons andv peculiar 'shaped Vlrlltt'on holes through' which said buttons may bepassedfff Y Fis 101s a broken 'dtail4 "f a ,fabric 'Strip whicha portion' of veach"buttonhole is formed.

Referring now more particularly to the form disclosed by Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, 2 designates an undershirt formed of knitted goods reinforced at opposite sides of its opening 3 with strips of tape or other suitable fabric 4 and 6. The strip 6 has a similar strip 7 sewed thereto in such manner as to leave button holes 9 at suitable intervals. The strip 4 is provided with a plurality of flexible buttons 8 which may be made of one or more thicknesses of material to give them the necessary body or stiness to prevent accidental withdrawal from the button holes 9.

One desirable method of formingv each button 8 consists in taking a strip of fabric and sewing two of its mar ins together as indicated at 10, thereby orming a tube 12. The ends 14 are' then turned with-V in said tube 12, as shown byl Fig. 5, and secured by stitching 16. If desired additional rows of stitching may be added as it lends to the stiffness of the button and overcomes accidental withdrawal from the button hole 9 through which the button is insertedby folding two of its opposite corners together.

After the buttons 8 have been formed as stated, they may bev sewed directly to the garment or to a strip such as 4, either operation being quickly accomplished as the buttons have no holes requiring care and time in directing the needle through, as with Vthe ordinary nonflexible buttons.

If it is desired to make an eight-sided button instead of a square button, the latter, after being folded to the form disclosed by Fig. 5, and before beingr stitched, has its four corners folded inwardly as shown byv Fig. 6, after which the different folds may le held together by stitching 20as shown by In strong goods not likely to unravel the reinforcing strips 4 and 6 can bedispensed with and a strip such as 6a with V-shaped margin of the garment 2a as shown by Fig.` y

9. The V-shaped openings 9a are, preferably, used where round buttons 8 are'employed as the same when folded can be passed through the V-shaped button holes more readily than through the narrow button holes 9. Any of the buttons above described reliably hold the garment closed by overlapping the button holes, but can be easily unbuttoned by the wearer.

Garments such as underwear, aprons, dresses, etc., equipped with the flexible buttons above described can be run through washing machines, wringers, mangles, etc., Without danger of pulling off or multilating said buttons, and as the buttons may be made from the same class of goods which compose the garments they present a neat l5 and attractive appearance.

While I have shown and described severel forms of buttons and button holes, l reserve the right to such other forms as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

The method of manufacturing a button consisting of forming a strip of fabric into a tube, folding the ends of said tube within itself, folding the corners ofV said tube inwardly, and stitching the folded portions to hold them in place.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

MARY V. BRUN K. 

